could not find any kind of evidence to the contrary. in the end, her death is ruled an accidental overdose. vickie would not have taken her life, not on purpose or not accidentally. she did not. she had too much to live for. she had waited all her life to have that baby girl and there's no way she would have give that up. they were talking about she couldn't walk, she was running a fever. she couldn't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. she had to be assisted. i mean how does somebody get up and get medication if they can't even get up and go to the bathroom? sometimes it comes to me in the form of a nightmare and i'll wake up, you know, in the middle of the night and i just sit there and think and, you know, try to figure it all out. she was a woman who loved life who loved her fans, who loved her son, who loved her daughter,

who loved being who she was. anna nicole smith had fought all her life to escape her troubled past, recreate herself, and put her name in lights. and, for a brief time, she managed to do just that. [♪ theme music ♪]

>> bill: good morning, everybody, what do you say? it is the "full court press" here on a wednesday february 20th. welcome to the prom on current tv, coming to you live all the way across this great country of ours, coast-to-coast. bringing you the big stories of the day and giving you a chance to sound off about them. 866-55-press is our toll free number. lots to cover today. president obama warning of the disastrous impact if the sequester kicking in on march 1st, which it looks like it is going to do because the republicans are saying we don't give a damn. and down in south africa oscar

pistoria says he thought his girlfriend was an intrueder who he shot her four times. but first today's current news update. good morning, lisa. >> hey, bill. good morning, everyone. a pretty low-key schedule as far as the president goes today. he starts with his usual briefing in the white house office. and later in the afternoon both obama and biden with meeting with john kerry. vice president biden taking an interesting stance on gun control lately. here is a little bit more information on that. parents magazine hosted an online discussion yesterday taking questions via their facebook page for the vice president.

many of those participates were not so inclined to agree with the renewed assault whe pans ban. the vice president said that the constitution can limit the type of weapons can legally own. he said the fact of the matter is you just don't need an ar 15 to defend yourself and that's why you would be better off with a shotgun. biden is the owner of two shotguns and often uses that fact to show assault weapons just aren't practical. he also said this is not a take downof second amendment rights. more bill up next. 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy.

just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. the bar harbor bake is really worth trying. [ male announcer ] get more during red lobster's lobsterfest. with the year's largest selection of mouth-watering lobster entrees. like our delicious lobster lover's dream, featuring two kinds of succulent lobster tails. or our savory, new grilled maine lobster and lobster tacos. it's back, but not for long. [ woman ] our guests go crazy for lobsterfest. my favorite entree is the lobster lover's dream. what's yours? come celebrate lobsterfest and sea food differently.

[♪ theme music ♪]

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama says don't use the meat axe on the budget. he is talking about the sequester of course. good morning, everybody, great to see you. here we are on the "full court press." it is a beautiful wednesday. wednesday, february 20th, and there's lots to talk about this morning all around the globe. we'll bring you up to date on what is happening today in our nation's capitol. the president holding a powerful conference yesterday with first

responders. and the white house and other agencies now warning about a huge cyber security attack against the united states lead by the chinese government and members -- and agents of the chinese military hacking into american companies, american government transportation systems, the electric grid and all kinds of other stuff. a serious threat. and down in south africa, oscar pitter to us admitted to shooting his girlfriend but he said he thought she was an intrueder. we'll take your calls at 866-55-press. look forward to hearing you by phone or at twitter @bpshow and

on facebook, facebook@billpressshow, more and more of you joining us on twitter and facebook and that's a lot of fun. we have the whole team here this morning. good morning guys. >> hey, hey, hey. >> good morning. >> bill: as well as siprion bolling keeping us looking good on the videos. it has been a busy week. >> it has. >> bill: still talk about the president's big golf weekend, and he hasn't said much about what it was like to play with tiger woods. but tiger woods had something to say about what it is like to play with the big guy. >> playing with mr. president was -- was pretty cool. he is just a wonderful person to

be around, and we won. >> bill: we won. i'm not sure what he means by that. >> he and the president played against -- >> bill: got it the other guys. when you are playing with tiger, don't you expect to win? >> you would hope so but they average out the handicaps, and tiger gets no strokes i'm sure. >> bill: they probably have to give him strokes. >> yeah. >> bill: but he won, and apparently all of this time on the golf course according to tiger woods is playing off. plus i'm sure the little tips he got help as well. >> he played well. weplayed under some tough conditions and he hit the ball well, and has got an amazing touch.

he can certainly chip and put. >> bill: i have heard about his game. apparently, i'm not surprised -- know him a little bit, right. he is a very serious golfer. he does not take any gimmes and the takes every freaking shot. >> no mulligan. >> bill: not the person i want to play with. that is not my game. and he apparently broke 90 which i never did -- haven't done, yet. >> he plays a lot of golf in his downtime so i imagine he is getting better. >> bill: he works on his game. i go out to have fun. he is a pain in the ass kind of golfer. >> that's right. >> bill: eliot spitzer joining us this morning. and we'll be talking to michael

tomasky, from the daily beast. and angela kelly from the center for american progress, she is one of the leaders on shaping legislation reform on capitol hill. she'll let us know what we can expect from the senate and the white house. and i think it's what nine days now from sequester time. get ready. but first. ♪ >> the late king of pop, michael jackson's son started a new job last night. prince michael now 16 years old appeared on entertainment tonight where he is a special correspondent. he says he wants to become a well-rounded producer director screen writer and actor. just 16.

>> this will end well. >> bill: isn't there some rule about child labor in hollywood? >> 16 you can work. >> it's just -- come on already. >> bill: go to college -- >> exactly. >> bill: i'm sure he got his job on merit as a reporter. and we know how these things work out when you take kids and shove them in front of the camera at young aims. >> another former obama advisor has taken a job as news consult important. david axelrod. >> bill: it's very clear if you want the bush retreads, you look at fox and if you want the

obama retreads you look at msnbc. >> yeah. >> could we see a led zeppelin reunion next year? >> you are not going to be able to a full led zeppelin reunion. >> bill: no. >> robert plant said that jimmy paige and john paul jones are capricorns saying they are quite contained in their own worlds. he said i'm not the bad guy, you need to see the capricorns. i have nothing to do in 2014. >> bill: every other band has come back. >> sure. but they can't have a led zeppelin reunion without john

bonnam. i mean he was it. >> bill: yeah, this train is coming down the track and we are starting right in front of it, and it is going to be hell on wheels, and i'm talking about the sequester. maybe more people would take it more seriously if it had a better word. it's like infrastructure -- infrastructure is so damn important. it's power systems roads, sewer plants water treatment plants. but with that word, people just don't want to talk about it so it doesn't get the at attention it needs. same thing with sequester. i saw a guy -- they are doing construction at the building next door. yesterday morning i saw a guy with a sledge hammer whacking

the side of the building and that's what the sequester is. you take a meat axe to the federal budget and go wham across the board, and it was mean -- first of all it is $85 billion a year for the next 10 years. $1.2 trillion cut across the board in domestic programs everything gets whacked, and out of the pentagon. it doesn't matter if it's stuff that is working. just everything would get cut. president obama yesterday in the south court auditorium with a group of first responders from all around the country in uniform standing in back of him said these are some of the people who are going to lose their jobs. >> obama: these cuts are not smart, they are not fair they

will hurt our economy, and add hundreds of thousands of americans to the unemployment rolls. >> bill: and the president pointed out this is not selective. this is sledge hammer. >> obama: congress allows this meat cleaver approach to take place it will jeopardize our military readiness. it will eviscerate jobs. >> bill: and the president said when congress adopted this, it was so bad right, that never, never, never would anybody ever believe that congress would go along with this. >> obama: the whole design of his arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive and unappealing the democrats and republicans would get together and find a good compromise of

sensible cuts as well as closing took loopholes and so forth. >> bill: yes, of course that presumes that members of congress are responsible and smart. either one of those are true. the boals of the simpson boals, he and allen simpson were in town yesterday, and they were asked -- erskine was asked what about this kind of approach? will this solve the problem? >> they are dumb and they are stupid, stupid stupid they are stupid -- >> they are inane. >> they are. there is no business that makes these cuts across the board. you try to cut the things that

are hurting the company. >> bill: stupid, stupid stupid. you would think that first of all congress would be here working on this. they are not. they are in recess. so they come back -- the house doesn't come back until tuesday. the senate comes back on monday. so that means they will have three days to fix this or to prevent this from happening. but they are not even talking -- to the extent that they are dealing with it at all, they are not talking about how can we avoid this. they are talking about who is going to get the blame, right? on sequester, parties play political chicken. on the front page of the "washington post," as cuts near the focus is on blame, jockeying for the high ground. so the republicans are trying to say -- they are blaming this whole thing on president obama,

said it was his idea. so i want you to understand for the record how this hand. remember this was all about the debt ceiling. how do we avoid going over the fiscal cliff with the debt ceiling last summer. and they were log jammed. and they said we need something to really make this happen. and at a meeting at the white house somebody said years ago they had a thing called the sequester, where these horrible horrible, horrible cuts were put in there that would happen if congress didn't act. and everybody said okay. let's do that again. then it came up to the congress and the republicans in congress 174 of them voted for this. john boehner paul ryan eric cantor all voted for it. and when it was over john boehner said i love this. i got 98% of what i want.

these cuts which are so bad that everybody thought never, never, never would congress go along with it. you know why the republicans want to go along with it? because they don't give a damn. they don't care if the government is whacked across the board. first responders and air traffic controllers and pell grants and all of that other stuff cut. they don't care. so my question to you is, do you think this see quester is going to happen? and if it does and it looks like it is, who gets the blame? i think the american people know who gets the blame. they are not going to blame it on president obama. but the republicans are stupid stupid, stupid. let's talk about it. >> announcer: this is the "full

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you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. twenty-five minutes after the hour here. yes, indeed we are talking about this absolutely as erskine boles called it yesterday, stupid stupid id idea about whacking the hell out of the federal government. this of course because republicans refuse to consider any new revenue, closing any tax loop holes for oil companies for

example, or for companies that export jobs. new york times pointing out. here are some of the cuts. army operations and maintenance would be cut $7 billion, navy would be cut $4 billion, special ed programs $2.3 billion, medicare payments to hospitals $5.6 billion, and in the wake of benghazi when republicans are saying why didn't we have more security at the consoleate at benghazi, around the world it would be cut $1.2 billion. yeah. jessica calling -- oh peter, i'm sorry. >> you can find out @bpshow.

>> bill: i would say don't pay them a dime until they do something. >> and if you lost your job because of sequester, thank a republican. >> bill: that's perfect. they control the senate through the filibuster. they control the house because they have the majority and they are the ones -- they gave us a sequester and they are the only ones that can stop it. up in caribou, maine. how are you? >> caller: good. it's snowing. but anyway. the sequester. i know plenty of people who are civil employees for the department of defense. >> bill: there you go. lose their jobs. >> caller: they will be required to take one furlough day a week

if we hit zero-hundred hours march 1st, so that's a 20% pay cut, but the sequester does not apply to the legislative branch, it only applies to the executive branch. and somebody pointed out it's a union shop the department of defense, very union shop. >> bill: there you go. you are right in pointing out it only applies to the executive branch. more calls coming up about the sequester. don't let it happen. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

billy zane stars in barabbas. coming in march to reelz. to find reelz in your area, go to reelz.com

♪

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com slash bill press. >> bill: good morning, we're talking about this absolutely insane idea and what it looks like is -- certainly they are out of town which is a good sign that they don't give a damn, that the republican-controlled congress is going to let the sequester kick in next march 1st, and they say they are going to let it happen so everybody can see how bad it is. the responsible thing is to not let this happen. and the republicans think then they can point the finger at president obama and say it's not

his fault. it's our fault. do you think the american people are that stupid? 866-55-press, let's talk about it. but first a big shoutout this is our listener's shout out segment where we applaud listeners who have taken our advise and started a business at home by contacting incomeathome.com. melissa heard about incomeathome.com, and reports she is actually make twice what she earned in her own job. she loves it. she sets her own hours. she is home now for her kids, and loves making money sitting at her own kitchen table. so good for melissa, but we're looking for our next shout out person, so if you are living -- tired of living

rather, paycheck to paycheck, sweating job security and working long hours at a job you don't like. do what melissa did. check them out at incomeathome.com. >> t-ster says the gop is taking a sledge hammer to the american people. they could care less about us. sequester is their wet dream. and jessica says i'm going to get a 20% cut. i blame the republicans. they are jerks. they have no idea how much this hurts readiness in the military. >> bill: yeah i think it's 254,000 civilians in the army who will be furloughed. and it's either one or two days a week but furlough means you don't get paid right? it's not that you are working a four-day week. you are working four days but

not getting paid for that fifth day. stewart is down in st. petersburg florida. hey, steward. >> caller: good morning, bill. i like to say if you are going to blame you have to blame both. because you cannot blame one for passing the bill without blaming the other for signing this damn thing. it is crazy as hell. you have to assign blame to both of the bone heads that are in d.c., and that is both parties. >> bill: okay. you know, it is true that president obama did sign this because at the time, right, everybody said this is so freaking outrageous nobody -- the congress would never be dumb enough to let this a happen. >> caller: but both sides are still not working -- >> bill: but the president had

to sign it but this would have passed the congress with just the republican votes. they had the republican majority, you know. >> caller: how many democrats signed on to it? >> bill: you know -- wait -- i have got that here somewhere -- i think there were about 70 democrats that voted for it, but 174 republicans voted for it but again john boehner said this is 98% of what we wanted. he said the president was not willing to cut anything. the president has already cut about $4 trillion, and what the president is saying, and what erskine bowles is ways and what everybody economist who looked at this is saying is there have to be cuts which the president is willing to do stewart, but there has to be new revenue. it has got to be both and you know it has to be both.

i mean that's what is -- i don't think this is difficult to understand. i think most american people understand this. you are running a business and find out that things are not adding up, and you are not either making enough money or you are losing money. you have got to look at where we can cut to save some costs here but also how we get some new revenue in the door. if it's your family budget and you find that you are strapped and you can't do some of the things you want to do in terms of a new car, vacation improvements to the home or just keeping up with the monthly bills, you have to look at your budget and say what are we doing that we can cut, right? and how can we get some new revenue? take a second job? get a pay raise? i don't know. rent out a spare room or something. it has to be an balanced approach. that is the fundamental

difference. it's not true to say that president obama won't cut. he has cut. he has put more cuts on the table. he has a plan out there with cuts and revenue. that's exactly what erskine boals said we need to do. the new revenue they are talking about is not higher taxes. it is closing the loopholes on the big oil companies, closing the loopholes on companies that are exporting jobs over seas. those are the main two loop holes they are talking about closing. mike in chicago. your turn. >> caller: hi bill thanks for taking my call. >> bill: glad you are there. >> caller: i know we are going to try to blame president obama for this. and i think he is doing what he

can do and i think maybe we should all show up in the mall wearing t-shirts saying remember republicans you work for us and you can be fired. president obama is doing what he can, and what really gets me these days is people just calling him obama. the man has respect for the office that he has. i have never heard anybody say bush, it has always been president bush or president reagan. >> bill: yeah that is true. he is president obama, president of everybody, right. not just the democrats. but mike i pick up your point, again, about the idea that the republicans really feel that this is the best thing to happen so they get credit for cutting government right? no, they get credit as erskine

bowles, again, i keep coming back it to for a very stupid stupid, stupid approach to balancing the budget. but i think they'll let it happen. at first i thought there is no way this is going to happen. >> it looks like it is going that way. most people say there's no way to avoid it at this point. it is going to happen. and now we have to figure out who gets the blame for it which is a lot of what the president did yesterday. >> bill: right. mike, i appreciate the call. 866-55-press the toll free number. but again, all they are talk about is who is going to get the blame. republicans are saying we're going to let this happen, now how do we make sure we blame it on president obama. "new york times," dire forecast on effects of the sequester.

here are some of the cuts new york times paints this dire picture of federal government operations across the united states. fbi agents furloughed. criminals released. flights relayed. teachers and police officers laid off. parents frantic to find a place for children locked out of day care centers. federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go free. and republicans are saying yep, okay. let's do it as long as we blame president obama. it is the most irresponsible i think we have ever seen this congress be, and boy, they have done a lot of irresponsible stuff. 866-55-press our toll free number, and we'll get eliot spitzer's take on this when we

come back on the "full court press." >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show," now on current tv. documentaries that are real, gripping, current. [ male announcer ] start with a groundbreaking car. good. then invent an entirely new way to buy one. no. no. no. yes! a website that works like a wedding registry. but for a car. first, you customize it. then let people sponsor the car's parts as gifts. dad sponsors the engine for your birthday.

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(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill bill show. >> bill: hey, it's fourteen minutes before the top of the hour here own this early morning edition of the "full court press," brought to you coming to you live from our nation's capitol, and brought to you today by the laborer's international union of north america. under president terry

o'sullivan. liuna, liuna builds america,.org. most of the talk is about the sequester today and if it does kick in on march 1st. eliot spitzer joining us early this morning on our news line. good morning eliot. >> good morning. >> bill: it looks like the feeling in washington is, that congress feels they don't give a damn, they are just going to let it happen. >> nobody seems that terrified about it? >> bill: should they be? >> terrified may be an overstatement, the world is not going to come to an end, but it is going to hurt a lot of

people, yes? is that par for the course for what congress does? yes. so maybe this is just the new norm. but this idea originated with let's put in place something so horrific, that nobody in their right mind will accept it. and now that horrific event now acceptable, because there is still an inability to do reasonable things to either deal with long-term debt issues which i think most of us think they are, or fiscal stimulus in the short-term. >> bill: and it's like nothing is too horrific for the tea partiers. >> no. >> bill: as long as there is a business open for business they still want to cut. >> the only thing they are worried about is we're cutting defense spending. and there is where we need

barney frank back. because barney was such a pointed voice about the need and obligation to take a hard look at defense spending. and that is of course there has been proposals spare everything in the defense department but spare everything else. >> bill: you are also a businessman, would you run a business, right, by just doing across the board cuts? >> no, you know, it is the laziest approach to decision making. it is lazy. it is not fact based, you give up all of the capacity to make judgments about what is working and what isn't working. and the across the board cuts are the lazy person's approach to decision making and it's terrible. >> bill: in your position when you were attorney general -- right? >> yeah. >> bill: did you ever deal -- i

want to ask you about cyber security, because suddenly -- the story is out from this report yesterday that -- i mean our -- our meadia, our american businesses american government agencies, all in targets of this cyber attack directed by the chinese military? >> this was a new domain when i was -- i was elected attorney general in '99, and we created an internet bureau. but we were dealing with a whole different dimension of issues. it was how do you get online and consumer fraud that was going to be perpetrated online it was such an early stage of internet commerce. and double clip was a new company, and now -- now you think about the googles of the

world and the ability to target and harness information. it is a whole different world. >> bill: yeah. >> but to youring point, bill the issue of loss of data security and the inability to protect what is thought to be private, it is a real problem. there are such an enormous range of issues and it is also the new warfare. it's the new domain of international security play. where we're able to use a virus, on the other end the chinese are hacking into our hospitals, our newspapers, who knows why. so this is a new science fiction-type domain where we have got to think long and hard about what is going on and how to protect ourselves.

>> bill: it's a whole new arena, right on how do we fight back? >> right. this is where -- the geeky kids who were -- [ laughter ]. >> they are the new action here rose. >> bill: all right. i can't figure it out, i keep reading about it, and following it, who is going to be the next mayor of new york? >> i have not the foggiest idea. >> bill: and you are a lot closer to it than i am. >> we're going to flip a coin. there were three primary democratic candidates. you have christine quinn, bill debazio, and billy thompson those are viewed as the primary

contenders on the democratic line. and then you have the piece of the republican party. and then you have john [ inaudible ] who is a very wealthy businessman. so it kind of complicated ethnic, gender issues and so on and so forth. confusion is the ordinary state of play in politics. you know that. >> bill: all right. thanks my friends. talk to you again soon. >> all right. >> bill: eliot spitzer joining us on the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show."

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(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. ♪

>> announcer: taking your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, lots of emails on a lot of different topics on the president's press corps. miles readers says i was mildly amused but not surprised to hear that the press was upset about not getting press of the president's golf game. and ann adds it figures that ed henry would complain about the president because when he reports, one can tell that he does not like the president. and paul sindars said what

happened during bush? were they whining like this if they didn't see bush every day? the quick answer to that is yes. jesse says i worked in a fortune 500 company and she was paid $110 a week less than the lowest-paid man in the same salary grade. so keep those emails and your comments coming. don't forget, the comments always welcome on twitter, @bpshow. we're going to talk oscar psi torturous at the top of the next our. my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections tuberculosis lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred.

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>> bill: hey, good morning friends and neighbors, welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. good to see you this morning. thank you for joining us as we tackle the big stories of the day, and give you a chance to sound off on it by calling us on our toll free line at 866-55-press. president obama warning yesterday about the disastrous cuts that will occur across the board if the sequester is allowed to kick in on march 1st, which looks like it will, because republicans really don't give a damn. erskine bowls also joining the fight saying it is stupid, stupid, stupid. we should not let it happen.

down in south africa, oscar pistorius said yes he shot his girlfriend because he thought she was an intruder so he shot her four times. but first the latest from lisa ferguson. >> good morning, everyone. with march 1st just days away lawmakers are protecting themselves against the possible sequester. they are also putting congressional staffers jobs at risk, that means members of congress need to come up with contend againsy plans. house speaker boehner says while he hopes it doesn't happen, but they are prepared to deal with it. congress member's own salaries are one of the few things off of the table, but staffers can get

a pay cut, be furloughed or even laid off. lawmakers are also working to avoid taking cuts in their home states. susan collins is talking about protecting jobs at the shipyard in ports muth. as much as lawmakers try to play the blame elsewhere, they will look back to their constituencies if they lose federal money. more bill press up next. stay with us. ♪ i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know

that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. save them. woolite everyday cleans your jeans and won't torture your tanks. woolite washed clothes look like new, longer.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: march 1 nine days away looks like the sequester will happen because republicans don't care. good morning everybody, it is thursday -- no it is not. >> not yet. slow down. >> bill: i know i want this week to get over. it is wednesday february 20th, great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us here on your local progressive talk radio station or on current tv, either way, listening or watching, good to have you with us this beautiful wednesday morning to find out what is going on in the world, and also to talk about it. it's are 2-way street here. we'll give you a chance to sound off, you can do so by giving us

a call at 866-55-press joining us on twitter @bpshow, or on facebook at facebook@billpressshow. and if you go to current.com, click on the chat room and you will join your fellow full court pressers across the land. it has been -- it is a busy week in washington even though the house and senate are both out of town, mainly because of all of the build up around the sequester. yesterday i was down at the white house for the first briefing after the president's day weekend, and as expected there were questions about the see -- sequester, and also the issue of the president's golf

weekend came up and the lack of access that the members of the media had to his golf game. i will tell you more about that. but first i realize i didn't introduce the members of our team yet. >> we're waiting for it bill. >> bill: before they mutiny and get up and walk out -- >> yeah. >> bill: i better give the introduction to peter ogburn and dan henning, and siprion bolling. happy wednesday good to see you all even though i forget you. [ laughter ] >> bill: remember jay carney before he came press secretary, he was vice president biden's communication's director. but before that he was a member of the media, and he covered the white house for "time" magazine and he used to come to the briefings and sit where we sit everywhere, so he said look, i know you are bitching and

complaining, and that is sort of like always the way it is around here. >> having been where you are, i understand, and i doubt there has ever within a white house prez corps that has ever been fully satisfied with the access but we have worked very hard to try to provide full access to the president. >> bill: but he was right -- he said, hum, you say you haven't had enough access to president obama, well, how about this? >> when it comes to solo us in conferences, where the president stands up and takes your questions, allowing people to go deep on issues. president obama gave 45 of those, president bush gave 19. also the president has given 591

interviews since he took office. so i think it's clear we are making an effort to provide access and we'll continue to do that. >> bill: 591 interviews, so april ryan shouted out yeah, but to whom? it's a little cheeky because she has had a one on one interview with the president. and jay carney said as a matter of fact, 104 of those have been with the major three networks. so they had all of their numbers right. they were ready. they knew the question was coming. hey, we have a lot of legal issues to talk about, and angela kelly in the next hour as well as michael tomasky from "the daily beast".

>> a big name in the music industry has come out. clive davis who helped launch the careers of major artists, has revealed in his new memoir that he is bisexual. he said he opened himself up to find happiness, wondering maybe if that would come with a man. he said no one but his family knew until now but he felt he had to open up. he has been in a committed relationship with a man for seven years now, but that is still a secret. >> and he waited until 80 to come out and state. >> bill: never too late. with the little blue pill. >> tiger woods speaking of

little blue pills -- >> bill: yes. >> sports ill stated reporting that he said it was pretty cool to golf with president obama. they won the match, still no word on what the president's handicap is but jim crain says he did break 90 in the round. >> bill: i remember a friend of mine in california playing golf with the president, and someone asked him who won? and his answer was the president always wins. >> that's right. >> and just one day after buger king's twitter handle had been hacked, jeep's twitter handle has been tacked saying it has

been bought by chrysler. >> mtv got hacked yesterday too. >> that was a promotion stunt. >> god. >> bill: what are we doing about getting hacked? >> it is so in right now. >> bill: we need a good lawyer. that's what we need. i got one. he is the cnn legal analyst and ours, the one and only avery friedman. avery we need you man. >> oh, yeah. i think i'll enter a plea of insanity, how about that? [ laughter ] >> bill: i thought oscar pistorius might try that. i want to start with that. we know he shot his girlfriend. he admits he shot his girlfriend. will his story hold up do you think? >> at this point he is just

trying to get himself out of jail. this is a bond hear going on. and it starts out -- at it's a little bit different from the american system where a department is not obliged to say a thing. but at this bond hearing there is substantial detail which started with his lawyer reading an affidavit and then he starts speaking, and the magistrate who is so typically british or south african says maintain your composure. yes, my lordship he says. and you don't really see that. but it is very very serious in the context of what is going on many people don't know that in south africa bill, it has the world's worst rate of violence against women killed by an intimate partner. >> bill: no kidding. >> that is not well-known.

and that's essentially where he is going. blade runner indicates he has been a victim of violence there are substantial problems of violence, and he was there to protect his girlfriend and claimed that there was an intruder there, got up in the dark with his -- shouted out to the intruder. shouted out, said come out, and then he fires the gun, yells his to riva to call the police and of course riva is right there in the bathroom where he is shooting at 3:00 in the morning. >> bill: it's dark, he thinks she is still in the bed with him, and she is not. and then went down the hall to the bathroom. >> yes, 20 feet away bill. >> bill: the door is shut and locked. now what intruder breaking into

your house right would lock himself in the bathroom -- >> yeah, i think it will be an issue. >> bill: apparently using the bathroom, and maybe said last night she was sitting in there on the thrown i guess. so wouldn't you maybe knock on the door and say who is in there or shout in there -- >> i think it's the logical thing, i think if you are up at 3:00 in the morning and you hear noise, and you think there is violence or intrusion going on you are not going to tip off the intruder intruder. but again, to see just that the door was locked -- if you are an intruder, you are not going to lock the door. >> bill: yeah. >> so i think that's going to be a problem that he is going to have to surmount today.

i have no idea where this thing is going. we now know it was the day before valentine's he claimed he received from riva a valentine's present. so where is the evidence of motive intent. maybe that will surface today but we just don't know. >> bill: i did hear a report yesterday that they found a bloody cricket bat in the house. >> after the shooting he is looking for a way -- he is assuming -- he claims -- that riva was ordered to call the place, he breaks the door down with the bat, he finds her. she is still alive. and tries to bring her downstairs, and he says she dies of course, in my arms. >> bill: the cricket bat was used for what -- >> to break down the bathroom

door. >> bill: oh. oh. >> that's at least what the claim is here. >> bill: yeah, so you want to come back to motive that -- that you think is where it will all hinge, right? >> i think that has got to be the focal point of where this case is. i think we're going to find out today some evidence from the prosecution of what kind of motive would be behind oscar doing something as horrific as this, and at this point, of course, it hasn't surfaced. there is no evidence of motive. and i think that's day two of his. >> bill: yes. i got to ask you one other thing before you go. i just looked at my $43,000 rolex watch, so i have enough time to ask you the next question -- >> who did you get that from? >> bill: i bought it from a former congressman from illinois

by the name of jesse jackson, jr., who is a friend and a good guy, but what is going on there? >> either it's issues of mental illness, or he is just a whack job. i just -- i can't even fathom you work for the government, you are buying michael jackson capes and $43,000 rolexes, there is something wrong. >> bill: like building his own museum. >> that's the funniest one i have heard. that is great. >> bill: seriously what are you going to a michael jackson cape? do you wear it for halloween. it is really sad, because he is an attractive young guy, he is very smart, he has done some great legislation here. and he was a champion on the minimum wage and all of that kind of stuff, and now all of

this has come out. >> yeah it's just really sad. >> bill: what is going to happen to him? >> i think he'll be dealing with the united states attorney there, and there are negotiations going on right now, because you potentially see a member of congress heading to the huscow >> bill: i think they have a special prison there don't they? >> yeah, they build them for members of congress, governors, and strictly for people from illinois. it is bizarre. >> bill: you can follow avery friedman at his website, averyfriedman.com. we'll have a link up on our website as well.

thanks, avery, good to have you back. >> thanks guys. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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(vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: what the hell is that? >> dropping the beat bill. >> i think it's nice that you let dan borrow your ipad for the day. look at siprion. he is going wild. [ laughter ] >> bill: twenty-six minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press"

here on a wednesday morning, february 20th. good to see you today and in the next segment. we'll be joined by nancy cook who knows all about the sequester, and will tell us how bad it is, and how likely it is to happen. peter you have another breaking story. >> yeah, this is really interesting. we have talked a lot about the evolution of marijuana colorado one of the states that legalized pot period. >> bill: right. i'm moving there next week. >> they will welcome you with open arms, because one of the things they had talked about is whether or not you have to be a resident of the state of colorado to be able to smoke that marijuana or use that marijuana. some were saying yes, it only applies to residents of colorado, but they put together a task force that said no no you can all come here. it doesn't matter where you come

from, where you live come to colorado, smoke our marijuana, pay the taxes on that marijuana. they are sort of embracing the idea of pot tourism in the state of colorado. >> bill: i think that's very very smart. >> i by so. >> caller: and i bet they do the same thing in washington state. >> they should. >> bill: and it's sort of like the same thing that people realize that same-sex marriage doesn't harm a state, it helps the economy of a state because people will fly in to get married in that state. it's a big business. pot is a big business. it is already the largest cash crop in california but people will fly in just to do a pot

weekend. i had a friend who had a weekend in vail, colorado, and he texted me, and said guess what i can smoke here legally. >> when in rome man. >> bill: that's right. pot tourism. hey going on a pot vacation. i tell you one thing, that's at least better than going on a cruise. especially a carnival cruise. the sequester, we'll talk about that next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know

that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

♪

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: thirty-three minutes after the hour. it is a wednesday. wednesday february 20th, great to see you today, we're coming to you live from our nation's capitol. brought to you today about asme the largest health-care worker's union in the entire country under good president lee saunders. they are make america happen. go to their website at afscme.org. we're going to be talk sequester here from nancy cook from "the national journal." wisconsin medical clinic had to notify 2400 of its patients that

they may become victims of identity theft because the -- the clinic reported that some of their equipment had been stolen by an outside cleaning company, and they took these documents and got the private information about these patients, and that was -- then they could use that to apply for credit -- credit cards or whatever. if you want to be protected against identity theft like i am with lifelock the most extensive protection out there. get 60 free days of lifelock protection, and if you are not happy call them in 60 days and cancel, and they'll give you a full refund. give them a call at

1-800-356-5967. it is called the sequester. it is a lousy name but it is bad news. it will kick in on march 1st. this is the draconian set of cuts that the congress said we want to be sure that congress does the right thing and does a good job of balancing the budget, cuts and new revenue, and to make sure that they do a good job we'll put such a big huge -- like big rock hang over their heads that we'll drop on them and on the american economy if they don't act, and of course it's so bad that of course they will act. well, guess what now here comes march 1st, which is the deadline for this big rock to fall. and congress is saying, what rock? what danger? it's unbelievable. nine days away no action to forstall it.

president obama appearing with a group of first responders at the white house and these are among the federal employees he said or local employees who would lose their jobs. here is the president. >> obama: these cuts are not smart, they are not fair they will hurt our economy. they will add hundreds of thousands of americans to the unemployment roles. people will lose their jobs. >> bill: and the president said this is not the way to make cuts. >> obama: congress allows this meat cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness, eviscerate jobs in education, and energy and medical research. >> bill: and he pointed out that where this came about is we want this club. we want this thing that would be so bad that nobody -- nobody in their right mind would consider

letting this happen. here again president obama yesterday. >> obama: the whole design of these arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive the democrats and republicans would get together and find a good compromise of sensible cuts as well as closing tax loopholes and so forth. >> bill: and on this issue, republicans are quick to say, well, we just ought to adopt the simpson bowles plan. so alan simpson, and erskine bowles, rightfully so have become the leaders that republicans say they want to follow in how to have some serious long-term deficit reduction. erskine bowles was asked at an event put together by "politico," he was asked about

this sequester approach to government that would again kick in on march 1st. if you want to follow them, listen to what erskine bowles says. >> they are stupid stupid stupid. >> they are inane. >> they are inane. there is no business that would cut costs this way. >> bill: and erskine boals went on to say, they are also dumb because they are cutting areas where we need to invest and they don't make any cuts in those things that are growing faster than the economy, and that is stupid stupid, stupid. nancy cook joins us in our studio this morning. hi, nancy. nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: do you agree with the

prevailing opinion in washington, d.c. that as bad as it is the sequester is going to happen? >> absolutely. i think when you talk to members of congress and their aids it seems like everyone privately is 100% sure it is going to happen. so those cuts will happen on march 1st. i think the prevailing wisdom is those cuts won't necessarily last for a long time maybe for about a month before congress and the white house reach some sort of deal but they will take effect on march 1st. intl the reason first of all because they don't think they are going to be as bad as people -- they just don't believe the scare -- you know the scary news that we're hearing about these cuts? >> i don't think that is it. i think there is a genuine concern about the economic impact of the sequester.

>> bill: the recovery we're in will be undercut. >> absolutely. >> bill: they, spending the economy in a tailspin right? why? >> i think it's just more representative of the political divide that we have now. it's not that people are aware of these big economic avenue shocks, it's that no one can come to an agree. so the democrats tried to put forth a proposal, but the republicans really feel like they have already agreed to raise taxes, which they did as part of the year-end fiscal cliff deal, and they don't want another deal that raises taxes at all. so there's this huge divide from both parties about how to solve this. >> bill: but again, the impact is so disastrous to the american

economy, military, domestic programs that republicans seem to say they are willing to pay that price, and then today most of the stories are about well who is going to get the blame. >> right. >> bill: the "washington post" headline, as cuts here focus is on blame. the hill parties are playing political chicken. so republicans feel one of the reasons that they are willing to let it happen is they are going to successfully blame president obama for it. >> i think that's what they are trying to do, last week on twitter a lot of prominent speakers were using the hashtag calling it obama sequester. there has been talk that the sequester idea originated in the white house, and therefore they should be blamed but both

parties voted for this legislation that set up the sequester. >> bill: 174 republicans voted for it including john boehner, eric cantor. >> right. and at the time it was part of the budget-control act. i really think when it happened a year and a half ago no one thought that we would actually get to this point. >> bill: i love the obamaquester. republicans thought the way to kill the healthcare reform was call it the obamacare. and how did that work out for them? >> i think it remains to be seen who is going to take the blame. because the white house really just started detailing exactly what the cuts would look like

about a week ago so i feel like americans are just tuning in to what is this sequester thing, and what do the cuts mean to me. >> bill: but the only way to hit it off, right, is for congress to act. the president cannot unilaterally by executive action, right? congress has to act? >> right. right. right. >> bill: again, i come back to how do they blame the president? >> right. and then it becomes is it something where all of congress is blamed? does one party take the blame? it is house republicans? all republicans? all democrats? i think that still remains to be seen and that's why you are seeing such serious messaging leading up to march 1st, because although both sides want a solution, but they don't want to take the blame for this. >> bill: and they ain't in town.

they are not here. do you really think in three days they can get anything done? 866-55-press is our toll free number on the "full court press." nancy clark here in studio with us. your calls are welcome. i know a lot of you have already been told, get ready for the furlough if you are a civilian employee of maybe the pentagon. so what is the impact on your family. we'll be right back. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv this is the "bill press show." ♪ thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were

they thinking?

current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. ♪

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: twelve minutes now before the top of the hour. in the next hour michael thomasky of "the daily beast" will be here for the whole hour. and we'll talk about immigration reform. right now we're talking about the big scary news from washington which the president highlighted yesterday. $85 billion a year for ten years, $1.2 trillion. nancy cook covers these issues for "the national journal." >> breaking news story, office maxx and office depot are going to combine in an all-stock deal. you basically had two choices,

and they are joining forces so . . . >> bill: there is another story i saw in the business section of the new york times that two other companies combined yesterday, and then of course we had american airlines and u.s. air -- >> i think it was mcdonald's and burger king if i read twitter right yesterday. >> bill: yes that was a hoax. >> on the sequester we're taking comments on twitter @bpshow. mkw says sequester is happening because the super wealthy don't want to invest more in america. democrats are willing to compromise. and we talked about how colorado is welcoming pot tourism to their state. don griffith says in a way the

new pot laws in colorado will save a lot of people money on trips to amsterdam. >> bill: there you go. grown in america smoked in america. nancy where did the sequester come from? who's idea was it? was it really president obama's idea? what are the facts? >> bob woodward's book about the budget-control act, and the debt ceiling talks are the best account of how this came to be. and according to that book, the idea was originally the white house's. they took the legislative language that had been there before -- >> bill: this is when -- if i can just -- that they were at logger heads over the debt

ceiling. and somebody at the white house in a meeting said you know, they used to use this thing called a sequester, right? >> right. so they thought we will use this thing called a sequester, and there are a bunch of people in the obama white house who weren't around then -- like jean sperling, and jack lou, and others. and the great thing is is it cuts defense, non-defense, discretionary spending, and those are things that everybody cares about. so because everything will get cut it will bring people to the table and they will want to compromise. >> bill: uh-huh. so it started out at the meeting, and it would not have happened if congress didn't

approve it. >> of course. the sequester was the final thing that was going to happen if congress couldn't act. congress couldn't act on it by the fiscal cliff deadline, and so they pushed it off two months, and here we are now. >> bill: exactly. so we do go from crisis to crisis -- from cliff to cliff to cliff. >> absolutely. >> bill: and so far for the last two times, when we get to the cliff somebody -- they have blanked, and it hasn't happened. so don't you think there is at least a 50/50 chance that they are going to blink this time too and delay it for another -- i guess maybe the least they could do but it would work but just debate for another three or four months. >> absolutely. they could do that. they proposed a plan to delay it

for ten months so that's possible. but we're coming up against a real time crunch. there is very little legislative time to actually get something done. >> bill: why don't they say just we'll let simpson and bowles decide what we're going to do. >> yeah, i think they have developed a reputation in washington as centrists, and key voices on the question of deficit reduction. i don't think that everyone likes what they are thinking about. they proposal pretty tough choices on tax breaks that every american enjoys. >> bill: even the mortgage home deduction. >> right. they call for deep spending cuts, and they are held up as the premier plan, but i think if

it is actually enacted, it could be difficult for both parties. >> bill: so back to the responsibility really does rest on congress. they are homeworking in their home districts. nancy good job. thanks so much for joining us this morning. you can follow nancy on twitter at nancook. i'll be back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the president got a

pretty loose schedule today. gets his daily briefing has lunch with the vice president, and then will be meeting with secretary of state, john kerry. i think the first meeting with the president and new secretary of state at 4:00. otherwise he'll be taking care of business at the white house. and jay carney will be holding his daily briefing in the briefing room at 12:30. i will be there and tweeting from the briefing room as i do every day. we'll come back with michael tomasky and then angela kelly.

[♪ theme music ♪]

>> bill: hello friends and neighbors, welcome to the "full court press" this wednesday morning. february 20th, great to see you today. thanks for joining us as we tackle the big stories of today find out what is happening around the country and globe and take your calls at 866-55-press. president obama at the white house yesterday warning about the disastrous impact on the american economy if the see quester is allowed to kick in on march 1st. looks like it is going to happen, because republicans basically say we don't give a damn. meanwhile pretty scary story about the amount of hacking being done on federal southeast, big businesses on the electric grid on air traffic controllers, on major newspapers

in this country, being done by the chinese military. and oscar pistorius tells the court yesterday, yes, i did shoot my girlfriend, but i thought she was an intruder. we'll see how that defense holds up, but first the latest from lisa ferguson in los angeles. hi, lisa. >> hey bill good morning, everyone. it seems the supreme court will side with monsanto on a case of soybean patents. they have been battling the court for the last five years. it is notorious for its patents and aggressive investigations. the company has sued 410 farmers and 56 small businesses most of which cannot afford to go to

trial. in 1981 a supreme court decision said living organisms can be patented as private property. that means farmers cannot save seeds for the next harvest. the patent should not extend beyond first-generation seeds, but the supreme court seems to be siding with monsanto as well. it spends $10 million a year to track down farmers for violations to its patents. this could be the most important campaign finance decision since citizens united which abolished limits on campaign spending. back with more bill next. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside.

(vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

[♪ theme music ♪]

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: we are at war and the new war is called cyber war. are we prepared for it? good morning, everybody, what do you say? it is wednesday. wednesday february 20th. great to see you today, and welcome to the "full court press" coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station, how lucky you are if you have got one. give them your full support. and the sponsors of your local progressive talk radio station, and also coming to you live on current tv. thank you for joining us whether you are sitting in front of your tv or listening on your radio or on the way to work, good to have you as a part of the program. you can always join the conversation you can do it by

phone at 866-55-press or on twitter @bpshow, or on base book facebook@billpressshow. the whole team is here but needed to bring in some outside help this morning for the news and here is the ever-popular michael tomasky. >> yes, sir. how are you. >> bill: good to see you. >> good to see you. >> bill: thanks for coming in this morning. joining the team here peter ogburn, dan henning, and siprion bolling on the video cam as always this morning. so i don't know, michael, whether you -- do you believe in the god of second chances? >> for some people yes. for me and you, certainly, yeah.

why do we ask? >> bill: mark sanford from south carolina is back. he still hasn't married his argentinian girlfriend. >> they are still together though. >> bill: yeah they are still together. but of course that's how he lost the governorship and now he is -- he says he is a new man, and admits his mistakes and he is running for congress and he think the god of second chances and the voters of south carolina will forgive him. and he was on "the today show," saying i never cheated on the public. >> jesus. >> i absolutely failed in my personal life and marriage but one place i didn't ever fail was with the taxpayer. >> or jesus. i like michael's thing better, frankly.

>> if you look at my 20 years in politic, which is a fairly remarkable consistency in trying to watch out for the taxpayer and the ill before us as a civilization, is if we don't get our financial house in order there will be incredible consequences. >> bill: there he is. well you know -- bill clinton is back david vitter is still in the senate tiger woods is back. >> did the taxpayer pay for his flight down to buanis ares. >> bill: no, he drove down there. >> oh, okay.

>> bill: i -- my prediction is that he makes it in south carolina. now peter -- peter is a south carolinian -- >> well reluctantly. but people liked him -- but -- >> you are like a dream baby in the sense, they were brought here illegally by their parents you were born illegally there. >> yeah. it's not like he was using a bunch of prostitutes, and he just fell in love with somebody else. and i think a lot of people can relate to that. so i think he survives. >> bill: all right. angela kelly from "the center

for american progress" will join us, and mooil and i have other issues to get into with you, but first -- >> the cash-strapped u.s. postal service is set to try something new. they are launching a new line of clothing next year. >> no. >> yes, the bran's name is rain heat, and snow. it is all weather gear. they will be producing jackets hand, and footwear for men and women. they say this will put them on the cutting edge of functional fashion. >> bill: that might not be such a dumb idea. >> uh-huh. a little entrepreneur spirit. >> exactly. >> bill: i'll buy a rain slicker like the mainman wears. >> i don't know if mailmen have ever been looked at for their sense of fashion.

>> bill: we're not talking about fashion. >> do you really want to look like -- he dresses very utilitarian. >> florida atlanta university has been searching for a corporate sponsor for its new football stadium for a couple of years, and now they have finally found one. it is a for-profit prison company. the geo group, the second largest operator of for-profit sales in the u.s. made a $6 million donation to the school to get the naming rights. >> bill: once you get in the stadium, they look you in. >> they would funnel the football players right to prison? >> do they make them change their uniforms? >> bill: yeah, they will all look like the referees. >> the late king of pop michael

jackson's son started a new job last night. prince michael jackson now 16 years sold now a special correspond dent for entertainment tonight. his first gig was for an up coming movie, called oz the powerful. >> bill: how about getting a high school education first? >> we know how this storiens. >> bill: well, look at his father. >> yeah. yikes. >> bill: oh, my gosh michael thomasky, where do we start? i want to start with the supreme court -- yesterday agreed they are going to take up another case of campaign finance reform. this is sort of the sequel to citizens united. >> uh-huh. >> bill: and this will deal with the limits on what individuals can give to candidates citizens united, of course, said corporations are people and can give unlimited amounts of money

to candidates. now is there any doubt that what john roberts wants to do here is remove the cap on individual contributions? >> i can't imagine there is any doubt. and this cap goes back to 1976 and that important decision -- >> bill: that was bad enough. >> yeah and at least it made a distinction between expenditures, and contributions because the court said big contributions do obviously have the potential for corruption. so they have the potential to undo that. >> bill: we first had the principle that money is free speech, right? but they still recognize the need for some limits, so if this goes through which, again, i

think they would have not taken the cases if roberts didn't -- he has a game plan here, and he seal -- feels citizens united, he -- he doesn't think citizens united went far enough. >> evidently not. and he all but rigged that vote. >> bill: yes. >> if you are watching listening to that jeffery tuben new yorker piece about citizens united how that vote came together, go read that and you'll see how much roberts wanted to overturn that. >> bill: yes, it started as a very limited case just on a documentary about hilary and john roberts said no let's argue the whole question about corporate contributions, then they reheard the case and

that's what lead to this sweeping citizens united decision, and now this. so pretty troubling. you also have been writing about chuck hagel and the attacks on chuck hagel. you can disagree with any nominee of the president, but the chuck hagel stuff ended up going over the line don't you think? >> yeah, in a big way. i did write last week that i wonder if he's worth all of this trouble, because the only utility of a republican defense secretary for a democratic president is to make the republicans in the senate and -- and the congress -- but particularly the senate go along with stuff like budget cuts, but if hagel has lost that utility, then what good is he? however, since then, bill they have gone a little nut-so and they are doing this stuff that

prove that you didn't take money from these people and this right-wing website that i don't even want to name prove that you didn't say what we heard you might have said in a speech in 2010 -- >> bill: and he was taking money from terrorists -- >> yeah and all of these people. so now this is turning into a quasi -- >> bill: but the flip side is all of these republicans are going to need stuff from chuck hagel. >> of course they are. >> bill: and i hope he has a long memory. so when lindsay graham comes up for some military base and god knows there are a lot of them in south carolina -- he says screw you this money is going to delaware. >> and the republicans want the sequester to kick in which is

going to shut a lot of these facilities, so they are bringing that on themselves. and hague kelsay that too. >> bill: all right. the latest fiscal crisis -- now it has been really nice for like the last two or three weeks. we have been able to talk about gun safety immigration reform and some other issues, now we're back in the fiscal crisis because march 1st is coming up. so your take on whether or not you think congress will do -- in any way forstall it, or it is going to happen? >> i think it is going to happen. i think the republicans want it to happen -- >> bill: not just willing to let it happen, but they want it to happen. >> yeah. emotionally, psychologically. they may say it's terrible but necessary medicine but they kind of want it to happen.

>> bill: why? >> because they believe first and foremost they want to cut government spending and they think this is the only opportunity to do it, so the safeguard that was put in there jthey don't care -- the safeguard was -- but it's going to cut defense too, but they suddenly don't care about that very much. in general the republican party wants this to happen. so how they can think they can get out in the public and say, we need the sequester, it's necessary medicine, and people are going to blame barack obama, i can't figure out. >> bill: and can't believe they refuse to stop it, and then turn around and blame obama. >> yeah. >> bill: right? >> i guess, well if the

economic effects are bad enough people will blame the president. but then break that down? so they are hoping for bad economic results from this? >> bill: yeah, and they also think the way they are going to do it is by calling it obamaquester. your calls are welcome at 866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is twenty-five minutes after the hour here on the "full court press" this wednesday morning, february 20th. michael thomasky columnist for the daily beast in studio with us. we're going to talk immigration reform with angela kelley in the next segment here. during the break, michael, you were talking about gun safety. first off, vice president biden was out yesterday, and he was saying, you know, this -- the answer to this -- everybody needs an ar 15. the advise he was given by his friends and i think some friendses in law enforcement. >> said joe if there is ever a

problem, walk out on the balcony, and fire two blasts in the air, i guarantee you whoever is coming in -- >> you don't need an ar15. >> bill: it does get to the point that no president ever gets everything he wants, but it looks like the background checks there's a good shot -- i shouldn't say shot -- a good chance that that can get through the congress. >> it does. >> bill: and growing support for the ban on high capacity magazines. >> yeah, so that would be something. i guess assault weapons ban is out of the realm of possibility for you, but those are the three big items and down the road when hilary is president, who knows. >> bill: yeah, to me i can't believe there's any debate over the assault weapons ban, but the

fact that we got it through in 1994 was a miracle, it barely happened then. diane feinstein's persistence i think -- she gets the credit for that. there was a commentator who has been big on this issue. >> david is my colleague and he is conservative, or he's -- actually i would call david a true conservative not a zany conservative. >> bill: yeah, i think you are right. >> and he has been blogging a lot ever since newtown. 600 accidental healths a year 15,000 to 19,000 accidental injuries. so he said imagine the public uproar if a vaccine did that. but guns do it and we don't say anything. >> bill: yeah, everybody would

be demanding all kinds of action, right? >> sure. >> bill: to prevent that vaccine, get rid of it. and identifying who is responsible, and the guns we just look the other way. >> yeah. >> bill: we have to get over this insane obsession with guns and this almost worship of the second amendment. >> and again, the supreme court, thank you, plays a role here. >> bill: there you go. will we see immigration reform? we'll talk about that in the next segment. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying.

you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

♪

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: hey, what do you say? thirty-three minutes after the hour here. it is the "full court press" on wednesday. wednesday -- just a little breaking news here from the white house. just checking to see what the latest is. i don't see anything different here. it said breaking -- oh i got it. the president is doing some television interviews this afternoon. i thought maybe it was a big news conference, but nothing really exciting. it is thirty-three minutes after the hour. michael thomasky is in studio and we'll be joined soon by

angela kelly. before we get into immigration reform, i caught this article out of wisconsin, a medical clinic in wisconsin little egg on the face had to notify 2400 of their patients that they could become victims of identity theft because an outside cleaning company in the facility stole a lot of documents which had private information on it oops. social security, bank accounts and all of that good stuff, and those 2400 people had better be looking for protection. my suggestion is lifelock ultimate. it's what i have got, and encourage you to look into it. lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a member. call now and mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days. if you are not happy, call lifelock again within 60 days to

cancel and you get a full refund. make the call to 1-800-356-5967 again for lifelock ultimate. congress out on president's day recess -- they not only get president's day off, they get the whole week off. the house has had two full weeks off. but there is a lot of activity on -- the white house released its outline of its plan. we have michael tomasky here in studio this entire hour as a friend of bill. and we know a little bit about this issue, but the one that knows everything about the issue is angela kelly. welcome back.

>> thank you good morning. >> bill: nice to see you. what about the fact that the white house has its own outline of this legislation? i thought it was the role of congress to write legislation, not the white house? >> well, the white house -- well look the president was in las vegas about two weeks ago, and he said i'm encouraged by this bipartisan process, i hope it results in a bill, but if not i have my own bill. i think it's serving to put more pressure on the gang of eight that are trying to get the bill and then put it in front of the judiciary committee hopefully in march or april. >> bill: [ inaudible ] said hey, the answer is write your own bill.

you write your own bill and then ours will never see the light of day. they would much rather prefer that, right? >> they would. the republicans are walking a tight line here, they want to get this issue behind them. on the other hand, they have a very loud i think not very large base that shouts and screams. mccain got yelled at yesterday about this issue. i think these four republicans and democrats are operating in good faith, i do believe that the chair of the judiciary committee wants to move this bill. >> bill: it does look michael that the planets are lined up. >> i don't know if i would go that far, but can i ask her a

question? >> bill: you bet. >> can you tell us the main differences between the rubio and the white house bill? >> the house with bill is a leak bill that you should think of as being written in pencil. it doesn't include a worker program. all right. >> bill: does not? >> it does not include a worker program, and i think that's because the aflcio and the chamber of commerce are in heavy negotiations about what that should look like. so i think the white house was intentionally silent on that. rubio has signaled he wants there to be a worker program and border triggers that he wants there to be met. these are the kinds of provisions that particularly

republicans seem to need to be able to enter the conversation. that's fine. and that's what we will discuss. that's why it is designed that way, rather than it happening in the press with leaked incomplete bills. >> who leaked this and why? >> i don't think there was an intentional leak. the president had just met with the four democrats in the group. they had been indicating they are making progress so -- you know, >> bill: i am of the cynical group that would say an accidental leak is an ironic term. but what is in the obama outline? >> it follows past bills where you have a period of time where

people come forward, we do a background check on them and they are given work authorization, and they are protected against being deported, but they are not able yet to apply for citizenship. >> bill: so now they are able to get on the path? >> exactly. >> bill: what are the requirements to get to the end of the path. >> show you are paying taxes, you are learning english, keep your nose clean and not have a serious criminal record. you have to show you have worked a certain number of hours at the back end. >> bill: and pay a fee? >> yes of course sorry. a fee and it will probably be substantial, and there may also be a fine. >> bill: and isn't there also back taxes? >> yes that's right. >> bill: do you know how far

back? >> i don't. >> bill: but the legislation hasn't been written -- >> exactly. but that will be a key requirement. >> bill: how long will they have to wait -- >> good question. >> bill: you don't have to worry about people knocking on your door at night, but then how long do they have to wait until they are start -- >> this is where the interplay really matters because we're looking at what are we going to do about the undocumented? at the same time we have a broken legal immigration system so we have a lot of people who have applied for close family members and they are stuck in the backlog so when people talk about not jumping to the front of the line, that's the line they were talking about. so it would clear out the backlog of people who have been waiting for employment-based visas, and then begin to process the undocumented. no one knows for sure how long

that will take. but estimates are it will probably be as long as eight years. >> bill: so my question about this is why -- why is it so tough -- why are there so many restrictions? why -- i mean -- i don't mean to sound too liberal here, but why isn't it automatic. most of them have jobs. they are paying taxes. sales tax and payroll tax, so it sounds like we're making this as difficult as we can. >> you are asking the right question, because there has to be some requirement for any visa program in our immigration system, so that makes sense to us, but it can't be so onerous and so long that they are getting admitted to nursing homes at the same time they are waiting for residency. >> bill: and when we had amnesty -- ronald reagan called

it amnesty, and he said they deserved it, right? when -- during that period how tough were the requirements under his program? >> there were similar requirements in terms of having to learn english and background checks, a big flaw was to be eligible you had to have been in the united states as of the first of january of 1982. the law didn't pass until 1986. so there were four years of people who may have been here without papers but they didn't qualify. so it would cover more of the folks who are already here. so we have seen some similar requirements in terms of language, taxes, and background checks, of course. i think that the -- the reaction that many have, and that

republicans in particular are fighting against is that they are broken the law, and they need to do something to get right by the law, and therefore you have to have these kinds of requirements. >> bill: angela kelly on immigration reform democrats want it, republicans need it looks like it could happen this year. nobody knows the issue better than angie from the center for american progress. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

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i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> announcer: on your radio, and

on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. twelve minutes before the top of the hour talking immigration reform with angie kelley michael thomasky and the "full court press" here as a friend of bill this hour. michael, you, during the break, raising an issue, which i think should be part of our on-air discussion. >> yes, we should not conceal this from our friends out there in audience land. we were talking during the break -- >> bill: transparency is the code word. >> yes. we were talking about what might happen in the house of representatives, and angie was saying it is the possible they might break it into pieces. so it's my general position that you have to expect the worst of

the republicans until they demonstrate otherwise -- >> bill: how profound and true. >> a good track record there. >> my question was and is what if the house passes the enforcement portion, but doesn't pass the legalization portion? >> well i think it's politicals with the latino community. they are watching this issue very carefully. and they will know who to blame. so i think -- i really think it is a dumb, dumb move for them. they do not need to pass -- as -- if the senate passes a generous bill i think it will be reasonably generous they don't need to pass that same bill. and we have seen boehner do this a couple of times where the majority of democrats have been the votes that got it over the finish line. i mean this is an issue of

concern in fewer and fewer congressional districts because of the way that they have been rigged, frankly, right? but there are some republicans that are looking at a growing latino electorate in their congressional district, they have to be worried about this. you see people like representative carter who is now part of this gang working on this bill. so this is an issue of growing concern, small number but a growing somebody of house republicans. and republicans have to get on the right side of this issue, so it's a tick time bomb for them. >> bill: right, so it must be -- and that's why it must be a comprehensive bill? is that the argue -- >> yeah. >> bill: that they all fit together and you may not get -- unless it is part of a comprehensive bill, some parts you may never get. >> right. it has to be a functional bill

at minimum that is going to have some enforcement, and would function if we also didn't have 5% of the work force working off of the books and in the underground economy, so if you put those pieces together and some more border infrastructure and so forth, then you have the makings of the bill. the question of a worker program, that's one that is going to have to be made in still rather tough economic times when we have high unemployment rates, so that's what business is going to have to establish and bring to the table. >> bill: we're talking seasonal workers, right? >> some seasonal. but also people who work in hotels and restaurants, nannies, that sort of thing. so in the lower-skilled visa category, right -- we call them

the other workers in our immigration system there are 5,000 visas a year for the entire united states. in times of -- we have a high unemployment rate right now, so we don't need a lot more visa but when our economy was humming, there were 500,000 people a year coming here illegally. so when our economy rebounds and we still need people in the service industry and we have fewer kids being born we're going to need some workers in those areas, so that's the question is how do we figure out how many we are going to need -- >> what are the numbers people are talking about? >> i think they realize having a static number is kind of stupid, so how can you say today for the

next 15 years this is the number of high school visas we need. so what kind of data can we look at that will help us decide. employers will say, let me prove i can't find a u.s. worker and let me have a visa and so how do you decide? >> bill: so we will see comprehensive immigration reform this year. >> i think we'll have a vigorous debate, but you have to walk before you can run. >> bill: mr. doubting thomas over here? >> you know, i hope so. i'll believe it out of the house when i see it. but i hope so. >> bill: michael always good to have you here. and nancy thank you for coming back. >> thank you. good to be here.

>> bill: i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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♪ >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: you know one of the worst words in the english language has to be infrastructure. i think the second worst is skwser, but it is important. and if it does kick in it is going to have disastrous